The Madras High Court Bench here on Thursday ordered speedy trial in a case registered against the former Union Minister M.K. Alagiri’s one-time close aide V.P. Pandi alias ‘Attack’ Pandi on charges of murdering the former’s confidante N. Suresh Babu alias ‘Pottu’ Suresh at TVS Nagar here on January 31, 2013. The murder was a fallout of alleged fight for supremacy between Suresh and Pandi.
After recording the prosecution’s submission that there were as many as 18 accused in the case and some of them were playing hide and seek with the court, Justice C.T. Selvam directed a Judicial Magistrate to split the case with respect to ‘Attack’ Pandi and other available accused and commit the case to a Sessions Court as expeditiously as possible. The Sessions Court, in turn, was directed to complete the trial within four months. The judge passed similar orders with respect to another case pending against Pandi and others for attempting to murder S. Ramakrishnan, a childhood friend of ‘Pottu’ Suresh and one of the witnesses in the latter’s murder case, at K. Pudur here on November 21 last.
The direction to commence and complete the trial expeditiously in both the cases was given while dismissing two bail applications filed by Pandi who was under incarceration for more than a year since his arrest in Mumbai a year ago, in connection with the murder case and since December 21 in connection with the attempt to murder case.
Mr. Justice Selvam refused to grant bail in both the cases considering his alleged attempt to do away with a witness in the murder case, the absence of any change of circumstance since his earlier bail application was dismissed by Justice V.M. Velumani on July 21 and his conduct of evading arrest and lying incognito for more than two years after the murder.
Threat to witnesses
Observing that letting him out on bail might have a debilitating effect on the prosecution witnesses in both the cases, the judge said at the same time, continuous and prolonged incarceration of the accused without any significant progress would not be desirable and hence it was absolutely necessary to expedite the trial in both the cases.
According to the prosecution, Mr. Ramakrishnan was included as a prosecution witness after he made a statement to the police under Section 161(3) of Code of Criminal Procedure on September 4, 2013 stating that he became friends with Mr. Alagiri’s son Durai alias Dayanidhi through ‘Pottu’ Suresh and then got acquainted with ‘Attack’ Pandi.
However, after Pandi was arrested last year, pursuant to the police getting him declared as a proclaimed offender besides confiscating his properties and freezing his bank accounts, he was in dire need of money to conduct around 20 cases pending against him, including the 2007 Dinakaran newspaper office attack case and the ‘Pottu’ Suresh murder case.
State Public Prosecutor R. Rajarathinam pointed out that the prime accused in the attempt to murder case P. Sagaya Praveen, a former cameraman with a popular television channel and brother of one of the 17 accused in Dinakaran newspaper attack case, had confessed to have committed the crime in a statement made to the police on December 15.
